Calico Museum: The textile haven

Set in Ahmedabad, Calico museum is one of the most acclaimed museums in Indian textiles. The collection is fantastic along with their preservation of artifacts. Ahmedabad in the early days was a booming textile hub, thanks to Mr. Sarabhai whose contributions to the city’s textile sector were huge. Built in 1880, the Calico Mills was one of the leading mills in the Ahmedabad city, industrialists Gautam Sarabhai and his sister Gira Sarabhai started the museum to house the history of Ahmedabad’s textile industry.

The museum is the one of the premier textile museum of the country, and one of the most celebrated institutions of its kind in the world for its distinguished and comprehensive collection of textiles and artifacts attracting many visitors and art lovers and has become an icon for the city. The collection is fragile so the museum management limits the number of visitors and allows only a certain number of people – so it is not a ‘walk-in’ museum. Once we entered, we were quickly put together in a group and were given instructions in the way. The museum houses not only antique but ancient textiles that are a visual feast! And so, once we were in the presence of the beautiful textiles, all this seemed worth it.

There are two display venues in the Museum:
1) The Chauk contains textile-related displays: explanations of techniques (weaving, dyeing, embroidery, block printing etc), costumes, regional embroideries, textiles of the Mughal and provincial courts, and a display of India's textile trade with the world
2) The Haveli contains Jaina works (manuscripts, textiles, woodwork, sacred objects, etc), Indian paintings from the Sarabhai collection, ritual art of the Vallabh tradition, bronzes from South India, etc.

There are many artifacts from different states of India: Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan. One can see beautiful work of ‘mata ni pachedi’ which is a painting done on the cloth by local Gujarati Vaghri’s. Other amazing things to see are Rajasthan’s Pichhwais art, Jain art objects and Indian miniature paintings. The museum has a large variety of woven fabrics ranging from religious clothes to Mughal courtrooms’ dresses. Popular works include sequins, mirrors, beads, silk threads etc. The unique feature of this museum is that, here you can even find the fabrics that can be traced back to the times of seventeenth century.

There are also textile techniques galleries and a library. The museum has played an important role in determining the curriculum taught in the textile designing courses at the prestigious National Institute of Design also located in
Ahmedabad.

If you are visiting the museum, please note the following important details:

• Museum is open from 10.30-12.30 and 15.00-17.00 hours and can be visited by prior appointment
• The Museum is closed on Wednesdays and public holidays.
• There is no entry fee for visiting.
• Visits are by appointment only; you have to write to them in advance and obtain permission.
• There are 2 guided tours per day: covering the Chawk in the morning and the Haveli in the afternoon. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sarkhej Roza: The mystical architectural marvel

There are many spots in Ahmedabad that reflect the true essence of the city. Sarkhej Roza is an exception. At 7 am we started from CEPT University to visit this magnificent place. It is in the town called Makraba which is around 12 km from CEPT University. The road that approaches the structures was bustling with shopkeepers who were about to open their shops. We reached the main entrance that looked small, with gardens on both the sides and intricate stone carving on it. The moment one enters inside, the magnificence of the structures can be sensed. It includes various structures: ghats, mosque, tombs, patio nurseries, etc addressing the fine Islamic architecture which is influenced by Persian, Hindu and Jain architecture. This place is used to be the home of Sufi Saint Shaikh Ganj Baksh Khattu who was an effective Muslim pioneer. He had proposed to Sultan Ahmed Shah to make his capital close to Sabarmati River. We learned about the history of the place through brochures and...
Read more

From harmony of Moved by Love Mandala to tranquility of Gandhi Ashram

Image
It was 7 am in the morning and the journey started with a hot cup of coffee at Parikalp Café opposite to Gandhi Ashram. We were a group of 7 students who were about to leave for a visit to the ashram. While having coffee we met Mr. Madhusudan who is a part of 'moved by love' foundation. He shared with us the organic farming practices that he was cultivating on a 1000 sq. ft. farmland. He offered us a visit to it, to which we delightedly said yes. We walked through the lane which had beautiful traditional pitched roof houses and we entered the farm which was made on the geometrical pattern like Mandala behind his place. The Mandala pattern organic farming was first practiced by Ganga ma, in Madhya Pradesh. She was an old woman who had a vision of making all the people in her village independent at growing their own food. She knew that all the villagers had a small part of the land in which they can grow their own food and live a sustainable life. It also helped the v...
Read more